Crystal Visions
by raggedyboys
Summary: Cordelia still deals with the loss of the best friend she ever had, but what will change around the coven when a new witch arrives? Will they be able to contact Misty Day or will Cordelia be left to live with the guilt? Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know this kind of story has been done before, but I really needed to get my post-finale feels out. I'm not a native speaker so I apologize for any strange sentences and things like that. I know this chapter is quite long, but it's all build-up for the plot, so please bear with me. I don't own anything except my OC's.**

* * *

It starts with the dreams. Almost every night now, no matter what she does, she sees him; the man who used to live in the house next door. In her dreams she's standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at a scene that constantly repeats itself. She sees a small red car with a brown-haired woman behind the steer and a truck, blowing black smoke and approaching rapidly. The man in the truck is on the phone with someone and laughs, and she recognizes him; it's the same man who's standing before her. Then, even when she sees it coming so very clearly, the strained sound of metal against metal takes her by surprise as the truck and the red car collide. Fear and guilt suddenly drown her in a tidal wave of emotion, then she blinks and it all starts over again.

Julia hasn't had a good night's sleep in months as she walks into the living room where her mom's watching tv.

''Look at this, they're starting a boarding school for witches now,'' her mom said, laughing, ''I can't believe they're seriously broadcasting this.'' She reached for the remote but Julia beat her to it and grabbed it from the table as she went to sit in the couch.

''It seems pretty interesting, though?'' she remarked, as she read the address at the bottom of the screen. ''It's not even 60 miles from here, in New Orleans.'' Her mom got up with a sigh.

''Better hope they don't go all crazy about that kind of superstition here,'' she said, ''I'm going to start dinner.'' Julia nodded absentmindedly as she concentrated on the blond-haired woman on the screen.

''There are so many young witches who have resisted their calling because they're afraid, of how they may be perceived, of what's expected of them,'' the woman explained. Julia yawned. She was thinking about her strange dreams about the neighbor, a man she'd maybe met twice before he died. But people have weird dreams about random shit all the time, right? Nothing to do with witches.

''Call us, email us, or just come to New Orleans, there is a home and a family waiting for you.'' The blond-haired woman, Miss Cordelia Goode, according to the bar at the bottom of the screen, smiled sweetly into the camera before they changed the topic to Liza Minnelli and her hip. Julia turned off the tv and put her earbuds in, searching for some Styx on her phone. She settled for Suite Madame Blue and closed her eyes.

She was there again, at the side of the road, and an anxious feeling of dread was building up in her stomach as the truck and the red car were quickly approaching the point where they eventually would collide. Even though Julia knew all of it was going to happen, she was still not prepared for the accident and jumped as the two vehicles crashed. Something changed, though. Instead of staring at the smoking mess in front of them, the man turned around and stared at her with pitch-black, empty eyes and tear-streaked cheeks.

With a jolt Julia woke up, eyes opened so wide they might as well have fallen out of their sockets. With a few deep breaths she felt her heartbeat even out again and she leaned back into the couch.

* * *

The dreams have almost become a normality in Julia's life, something she's learned to live with, because there's really not much to be done about her subconscious pestering her. She thought that perhaps it might hold some meaning, but then again what could a dream about an accident that her dead neighbor was apparently responsible for possibly mean, except that he had been a reckless fool when he was still alive? No, the dreams were not so special, it was only 4 weeks after she'd watched the story about New Orleans newly acquired witch school that things really begun to change.

It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon and as every student at the age of sixteen, Julia was seated at her desk, staring at her math homework every five minutes or so before checking her phone again. She was bored out of her mind and she knew that no one was going to actually make those exercises, but at the same time there wasn't much else to do except to stare at the rain and wonder about the meaning of life, in-between texting friends.

The sound of Patrick Stumps voice was blaring out of her speakers and after a while her mom came barging into the room with a ''turn that down, _now_,'' so Julia sighed exasperatedly and looked around for her earbuds, which were laying on a stack of books in the corner of her room. With a grunt, she stretched out her arm, telling herself how childish this was but nonetheless reaching out in the hope that the earbuds would just come flying into the palm of her hand.

When you estimate the chance of something happening to be zero and when all scientific research in the world tells you that something happening is just not possible within nature's laws, the event of that certain something happening goes accompanied with a really big shock. This is how Julia practically falls off her chair when said pair of earbuds indeed land in her hand.

Julia carefully stood up again, clutching the earbuds, as she looked at the stack of books, still sitting there, unmoved, some five feet away. Taking in a deep breath, Julia laid the earbuds back on her well-read copy of 'A Horse and His Boy', and went to sit back down again. Time to see if she was still sane or not. She stretched out her arm again, glaring at the earbuds and _willing_ them into her hand. After a few seconds of intense focusing, the earbuds do indeed fly into her hand again.

''Shit.''

* * *

Cordelia looked over the file once more before deciding to put it on the 'denied' stack. There were more letters arriving each week and it was exhausting. Of course Zoe en Queenie were great helps, but it was still such mindless work that it was driving her insane. The fact that sorting out the real witches from the fake ones didn't require all that much thinking didn't help. Cordelia caught herself thinking about the closest friend she had ever had more often every day and even though it hurt her in the most painful way, she couldn't set the swamp witch out of her mind. Guilt overpowered her in those moments, guilt because she should never have told Misty to take part in the Seven Wonders. The girl had told her herself that she didn't want to be the Supreme, that she didn't feel powerful. Cordelia, blind then in more ways than one, had written it off as nerves. She couldn't have possible been more wrong. Misty had always been so proud, proud of where she came from and proud of her powers to heal and bring people back to life. If she had been the Supreme, she would've felt the power surging through her veins and she would've been proud of that newfound power, too. Cordelia could see it all now and continued to beat herself up about it, because no matter what anyone told her, she knew that in the end it all came down to her.

With so many new witches, Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies had become quite the bustling place. Cordelia almost felt bad about not remembering each student's name, but she figured that would come with time. The halls of the big house were almost never completely deserted, like how Cordelia knew them. The only place where she could find solitude and calm now was the greenhouse, which never actually resulted in Cordelia being calmed down because of all the memories she associated the place with.

Even with the knowledge that she was doing well and that the coven was thriving, Cordelia's days as reigning Supreme were tiring and unmerciful on her.

* * *

Several days after 'practicing telekinesis', or whatever it was that had moved her earbuds, Julia made a decision. She had dug up everything shady about the witch school in New Orleans and decided that despite the fact that there had been weird crap going on there in the past, she might give it a try. Besides, if she really was a witch now, she didn't have to be afraid of monsters, right?

Julia also decided not to tell her mom when she skipped school the next Monday to take a bus to New Orleans. She had no idea whether she could just barge in asking if she could see the headmistress or if she actually had to schedule an appointment like she imagined it worked on other fancy schools. It was still a school for witches after all; she doubted anyone who came there knew what to expect.

After one and a half hours of traveling, she set foot on the gray pavement in one of the more wealthy neighborhoods in New Orleans. The tall fence was impressing, the massive white building behind it even more so. Feeling incredibly nervous and excited, Julia pushed open the fence and walked to the front door. She took a deep breath and then rang the doorbell. The door opened almost instantly and Julia wondered if the blond-haired boy in the butler costume at the other side of the threshold had somehow known she was coming.

''What can I do for you?'' he asked, not unkind but not overly welcome either.

''I'm here to see Miss Goode,'' Julia said, ''does she have time to see me?'' A slight smile appeared on the boy's face as he turned to let her in.

''Of course,'' he said, ''I'll get her right away. You can wait in her office, the last door on the right.'' Julia nodded curtly and waited until the boy had disappeared.

Miss Cordelia Goode's office was not really what she had expected it to be. Its interior was light and spacious, and there were a lot of books. It looked pretty ordinary, with no strange symbols or spells as far as she could see. Julia played with the hem of her t-shirt and prayed that the woman wouldn't take too long because she wasn't really great on the patience field, but just as the thought swirled into her mind, the door creaked and a tall woman she registered as the headmistress walked in. She sat down behind her desk before Julia could get up and smiled at her tentatively.

''What can I do for you?''

Julia decided to get straight to the point. ''I think I might be a witch.'' And, after a short silence that felt also a bit awkward on her part, she added: ''you probably get this all the time, but I'm pretty sure.'' There seemed to appear a little glimmer in Miss Cordelia's eyes at that.

''Okay, well, why don't you start at the beginning?'' she said, ''everything that seemed even remotely strange can be related to your abilities as a witch.'' Julia nodded and swallowed the nervous lump in her throat.

''It started about six months ago, when I got this weird dream that has been coming back ever since. It's about my neighbor, a man who lived next door to us for maybe two years before he died of a heart attack. He was in his sixties, I think. So in this dream, I'm standing behind him and I'm looking over his shoulder at an accident he caused. At the end of it, I feel all these emotions of guilt and sadness, and then it all starts over again. An endless loop of that particular accident, until I wake up again.'' She looked the headmistress in the eyes, feeling a little more comfortable now that she can actually tell someone this without getting told to 'get over it, it was only a bad dream'. Miss Cordelia nodded thoughtfully, then said:

''This sounds interesting, but it wasn't what convinced you that you were a witch, or was it?'' Julia shook her head.

''Something changed, about a week back. I can do this now-'' she decided to immediately demonstrate her new power, and lifted a couple of pens off the desk with only so much as a glare. She dropped the pens again and Miss Cordelia smiled at her. ''It's called telekinesis, right? Like Jean has in the X-Men.'' The headmistress' smile widened a bit.

''Yes. It is one of the seven abilities of which witches are able to do at least one or more. What was your name again?''

''Julia Newport.'' Julia answered.

''Well, if you decide in any event that you want to learn about your abilities, you are very welcome here, Julia.'' The headmistress stood up and Julia did the same, but it wasn't until she touched her arm that Julia looked up again. ''I don't suppose you've asked your parents yet?'' she asked with a knowing smile. Julia chuckled.

''When my mom saw the interview she just saw it as a load of bulls- ...um, well, you know,'' she said, telling herself internally not to screw up her first impression with cursing. ''She probably thought it was just a joke or a call for attention, I don't know. She surely doesn't believe witches exist.'' Julia frowned as she wondered about how the hell she was supposed to convince her mom to send her off to witch boarding school. Miss Cordelia seemed to sense her uneasiness and said,

''I truly believe we can help you master your abilities here, Julia. If she doesn't want you to go, there is of course nothing I can do, but you might just convince her with that power of yours. And if that doesn't work, you can always bring her to see me.'' She smiled. Julia grinned in return as she imagined the look of shock that would probably appear on her mother's face if she suddenly saw objects flying around the house. ''Have a safe trip back home, Julia,'' the headmistress said, ''I hope to see you soon.'' Then the butler boy entered to accompany her back to the door.

* * *

Her mother was furious. Immediately after she got back from work, her mother demanded an explanation for the school's call when she hadn't turned up. Then when Julia told her she'd gone to see the headmistress of the infamous witch school, she exploded. A seemingly never-ending rant about the media's impact on society and how the television was apparently slowly brainwashing everyone followed, and after her mom had calmed down to an extent, Julia spoke up.

''Mom. Can you just listen to me for a sec? I didn't go there without a legit reason, okay?''

Her mom scoffed. ''Oh, please enlighten me then. What reason could possibly make it okay for you to skip school to go visit a cult school-''

''It's a school for witches. It's not a cult,'' Julia bit back. She took a deep breath. It was sink or swim now. ''Wanna hear my reason? I think it's better if I'd just show you.'' She focused on a piece of paper that was laying on the table they were both sitting at and carefully folded it into an airplane with her mind. When it was finished, she lifted it in the air and let it float there for a moment, before dropping it again. She crossed her arms and leaned back. Her mom had gone completely white and kept looking at her, then at the airplane and back again. They didn't say anything for a long while and Julia felt the tension rise. She leaned forward again and put her arms on the table.

''Look, I didn't choose this, okay? It just happened. I thought it'd be nice if I could actually get an idea of what's happening to me.'' Her mom visibly sobered up and swallowed.

''Very well. You have this... power, now, you'll just have to learn how to live with it. I don't have to ship you off to New Orleans for that.''

Julia sighed. ''Well, the best place how to learn to control witchcraft is to learn from other witches, right? Besides, it isn't that far away. I could just come home for the weekend.'' Her mother didn't seem too convinced. ''C'mon mom, the headmistress is real nice and I bet the other girls are too. Can't I at least try it out, for the first month or so?'' Her mother sighed in defeat.

''If you're sure this is what you want, then it's fine with me. I have to see this headmistress myself first, though.'' Julia stood up with a big smile on her face.

''Great! Thanks, mom!'' And with that, she ran up the stairs to her room.

Julia noticed she was getting stronger over the course of mere days when she let her guitar float towards her, carefully as not to let it bump into anything. It was the biggest object she'd lifted with her telekinesis yet and it didn't even cost her that much trouble. Deciding that experimenting was more fun and interesting than school work, she dropped the guitar on her bed. She stretched out her right hand and concentrated. She smiled as the strings moved. With her other hand stretched out, too, albeit this proved to be more difficult, she proceeded to press down the strings, creating a pattern of chords that turned into Pink Floyd's Time. Julia smiled as she started to sing along softly.

''Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day...''

* * *

Cordelia, known for being absurdly invested in her students (or almost-students) well-being, was sipping a cup of tea in the drawing room. She was thinking about Julia and her dreams and what they could possibly mean. Maybe the spirit of her deceased neighbor had somehow latched himself onto her, appearing in her dreams because she couldn't see him when she was awake. Still, that didn't make a lick of sense. Why would he do that? From how Julia talked about him, she gathered that she didn't know him very well.

There was another thing about the dream that made Cordelia feel uneasy. What the girl had described, an accident on a loop and the man feeling sad and guilty, it could only be one thing. Somehow, she had found herself in the personal hell of a man that had once lived next door to her. Maybe it had something to do with the location? But before she could think more about it, Kyle wandered in with a small smile on his face.

''The girl that visited two days ago is back,'' he told her, ''I think she brought her mom. I referred them to your study.'' Cordelia smiled and nodded at the boy.

''Thank you, Kyle.'' She stood up and straightened her dress. The prospect of a possible new student was always really exciting for Cordelia and she walked to her office with a hint of a smile on her face. Inside were Julia and a woman that did bear some resemblance to the girl, but not as much as Cordelia herself did to Fiona.

''I see you have brought your mother this time,'' Cordelia said as she sat down in front of them, and she silently hoped that the woman wasn't too spooked.

Julia nodded. ''Yes, we... uh, we agreed that I can go here but my mom still has some questions, so...''

''Naturally,'' Cordelia said and she looked at the woman in front of her who didn't seem so much at ease as she and Julia did.

''Yes. I was wondering about what exactly my daughter gets taught during the time she spends here. And whether she'll be able to come home during the weekends.'' Cordelia nodded.

''The subjects we teach here are mainly history or lore, to teach you more about where you originally come from,'' she looked at Julia for a moment, ''we also teach basic knowledge of the Latin language, which will be useful for practicing spells, and Julia here will of course also learn how to control her newfound abilities and explore them. We have multiple witches at the school who, together, are extremely proficient of the abilities that witches are able to do. There are also multiple classes concerning your interests,'' she looked at Julia again, ''like botany, spells, potions and voodoo. Now I know that all this might sound a little scary, but as headmistress I can assure you that this school is the safest place for Julia.'' Julia's mother nodded and was still calm, so Cordelia continued. ''The girls are basically free to do what they want in the weekends and some girls whose families live close enough do also go home for two days. Julia can do the same if she wants.'' Julia's mother looked at her daughter, who had gotten a little glimmer in her eyes after Cordelia's explanation of all the things she would get to learn if she did get to go to school, and it made Cordelia feel a little warmer inside.

''If all this is really what you want then... Yes. You can try it out.''

Julia smiled. ''Really? Thanks mom, you're the best,'' she said, after which she turned back to Cordelia, ''so, when can I start?'' Cordelia laughed softly at the girl's eagerness.

''I think it's for the best not to rush,'' she said, ''how does next Saturday sound? That way you can say goodbye to your friends at school and maybe explain the situation to them. And Mrs. Newport, you don't have to worry about deregistering from your daughter's current high school, I'll take care of that.'' Cordelia stood up, indicating the end of their conversation, and Julia and her mother did the same. They shook hands and Cordelia walked them to the front door.

''I'll see you on Saturday, then,'' she told Julia as her mother walked away to get the car. The girl's smile looked like it could lit up New York City for at least a year, Cordelia thought to herself and she chuckled. ''I'd say we managed to convince your mother just fine, right?''

Julia nodded. ''Yeah, we really did. See you Saturday, Miss Cordelia.'' She smiled at Cordelia one last time and then walked to where her mother was waiting for her with the car.

Cordelia felt this unexplainable light feeling as she watched the car drive away and she chuckled to herself for a moment. The coven just acquired a very interesting new student. She closed the door and found Kyle wandering in the hallway.

''Could you prepare a room before next Saturday?'' she asked him, ''We're getting a new student.'' Kyle smiled and nodded before he ascended the stairs. Cordelia went back to her study and sat down behind her desk with an air of satisfaction. Time to make preparations.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2 is finally here, though I'm afraid it's still mostly build-up for the actual plot. It's a pretty long chapter nonetheless, so I hope you guys enjoy :)**

* * *

That Friday, Julia couldn't sleep once again, but she knew that this time the cause was something much more innocent than her haunting dreams; anticipation. The friends that she had in high school didn't really feel like they were her _best_ friends, which had made saying goodbye that much easier. Of course they had asked questions, like,

''Are you moving?''

''No.''

''What's so special about this new school?''

''It's... a different kind of education. I've kind of been... selected, or something.'' (keeping things vague was not something Julia had a particular problem with)

''So where is it?''

''New Orleans. It's a boarding school.''

''We probably won't see you around that much, then.''

''Probably not.''

After all her friends were done asking questions, they hugged, talked, made meaningless promises about keeping in touch and some of her more emotional friends had even let a couple of tears. Other than that, it all went quite smoothly and after Julia had quietly accepted that, now that she wouldn't see them five days a week anymore, her friends would slowly but surely drift away from her, she went home to finish packing.

The trip to New Orleans seemed to have taken only a few minutes, probably because Julia had spent most of it daydreaming about the possibilities of practicing actual _magic_. She briefly wondered why she shouldn't just use her telekinesis for tasks like these when she lifted her suitcase and guitar case from the trunk of the car and placed them on the pavement, but then she reminded herself of the countless villains in tv shows and movies who had become corrupted by their abuse of power (to take another example from the X-Men, that would be Magneto). She hugged her mom and let herself be kissed on the cheek, then she smiled and said,

''I'll see you next week, then.''

''Good luck, honey,'' her mother said, ''and stay out of trouble, okay? And be sure to call me when something-''

''I'll be _fine_, mom,'' Julia told her, ''I'm a witch for christ sake.'' Her mother still seemed a bit uncomfortable with the term, so Julia just put her hand on her mom's shoulder and reassured her that everything would be downright peachy and that the week would be over in no time.

After saying goodbye to her mom, she picked up her stuff and walked through the tall gate, after having it conveniently pushed open with her telekinesis (her hands were full). The butler boy was already waiting for her by the door and took her suitcase. Even though she'd been there two times prior, the size of the building did take her by surprise. Even more so when they ascended the gigantic staircase, which was intimidating in a way Julia had never expected staircases to be. The walls and floor of the building were all a crisp white, which created an air of sereneness, and it calmed Julia down automatically. She already started to feel at home here.

The butler boy (whose name she still didn't know), walked into one of the rooms just right from the staircase, which contained two beds with two nightstands and two cupboards, and as far as Julia could see, a bathroom around the corner. The two windows in the room were both open and let a gentle breeze enter the room.

''This'll be your new room,'' butler boy said with a crooked smile, ''you share it with another girl called Alexis. She's visiting her family this weekend.'' Julia put her guitar against the wall and sat down on the bed.

''Cool. I'll meet her Monday then,'' she glanced up at the butler's face. ''thanks, um...''

''Kyle,''

''Thanks, Kyle.'' Kyle smiled at her again and then left the room. Kyle. At least now she knew someone in this place that wasn't the headmistress.

* * *

On Sunday morning, Julia woke up with a strange feeling. At first she didn't quite realize what it was, but as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed she got it. _She was not feeling tired._ After more than a half year of waking from strange dreams in the middle of the night, the feeling of actually having gotten a good night's sleep felt foreign to her. Smiling at this new development, Julia stood up to pick out her outfit for the day. It would be important to make a good first impression on the other girls here, so she settled for a slightly oversized black sweatshirt (that did have the batman logo on it, but what the hell, right) and dark leggings. Black seemed to be the main dress code here from what she'd seen, after all.

There were only a five girls at breakfast and it besides from their chatter, the kitchen was quite calm. The door fell into the latch behind Julia and all the girls turned to look at her, and Julia was momentarily overwhelmed with strong sense of self-awareness. She crooked her lips into a smile and awkwardly raised her hand.

''Hi, I'm Julia, the new girl.''

A girl with long, dark hair smiled back and said, ''Hey, I'm Jennifer. Nice to meet you.'' All the other girls introduced themselves too and after grabbing some cereal, Julia sat down next to a girl called Ava.

''So,'' Ava said, ''what can you do?''

''Telekinesis,'' Julia answered in between eating, ''and I get weird dreams too. How about you?''

Ava grinned. ''My dad sent me here after I accidentally set the garage on fire. To say he was pissed is putting it lightly.''

''Wow. That sucks.''

''Yeah. Well, I like it here better than at home, so coming here wasn't really a problem for me.''

''So how about the rest of you?'' Julia asked, addressing the rest of the girls, ''what can you do?''

There was one girl, Chloe, who could do telekinesis too, then Lily used her mind control to make Ava slap herself with her spoon and it created quite the funny atmosphere. Alex told about how she had always had a reliable instinct and how she had predicted that the harvest of her uncle, who was a farmer, would fail and that he would most likely be bankrupt at the end of summer. When that exact thing had happened, her family had shipped her off to witch school. Lastly, there was Jennifer.

''She can do the coolest thing,'' Ava told her as Jennifer stood up. Julia blinked and then she was gone. Just like that, like the girl had never even been there. Julia could only just hold back a yelp when a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders and when she turned around, Jennifer was standing there with a grin that could equal the Cheshire cat's.

''Miss Cordelia calls it Transmutation. It's a pretty neat trick,'' Jennifer explained as she walked back to her place at the table. ''so I can do that, but I can also set things on fire, like Ava.''

''Miss Cordelia said it's not uncommon for witches to develop multiple powers.'' Alex said. ''I sure hope I learn something exciting soon. There's not really that much you can do with Divination, you know.''

''That's not exactly true, Alex,'' another voice suddenly rang through the kitchen. Miss Cordelia walked to the counter to make herself some coffee. ''With some more practice, you could maybe even learn to see into the future.'' Alex grinned at the prospect of that. ''Now, girls, can I maybe have a moment with Julia alone?'' The girls nodded and walked out of the kitchen. Miss Cordelia then turned to Julia. ''So, how are you settling in?''

''Pretty good,'' Julia answered. ''and I had a good night's sleep, too, for a change.''

''Really? No dreams at all?'' Miss Cordelia asked, surprised.

''Nothing.''

''That's interesting,'' the headmistress said and she rubbed her temple in thought. ''I've been thinking about your dreams and I think, even more so now, that they may have something to do with the place where you're sleeping. Please excuse the question, but do you know if your neighbor died at home?''

''I'm not sure, but he probably did,'' Julia answered. ''he didn't go out much and I don't think he ever moved to a retirement home, or anything like that. Why?'' Miss Cordelia sighed.

''Well, if he died there, my theory is that a faint trace of his spirit still remained in the house, and that maybe you caught up on that. It would certainly explain why you dreamed about a man you barely knew every night.'' Julia nodded.

''Yeah, it makes sense, I guess. But what about the dream itself, I mean, I never knew he was in a car crash. Could it have been that the memory of that day was so strong it somehow got mixed with that... trace of his spirit?'' Miss Cordelia smiled softly at her theory.

''It could've been something as innocent as that, yes, but there's also a possibility of it being something much more serious.''

''Like what?''

''Hell.''

* * *

Hell actually existed. Did that mean that heaven existed too? Julia shook her head and tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but she involuntarily kept thinking back at the conversation she and Miss Cordelia had had. Apparently, if someone had done some particular bad things in their lifetime, a figure called Papa Legba would come to take them to their personal hell, where they'd be forced to watched their worst memory on a loop, for eternity. It all sounded horribly painful to Julia. She sighed and laid back into the grass. Miss Cordelia had suggested that, to explore this ability further, it could help her to take control if she went into someone's personal hell while she was conscious, through meditation. The only problem was that Julia had absolutely no experience on meditation or how to do it so that it'd _work_. The sun was shining down at Julia's face and a gentle breeze tickled her skin. Scents of the garden surrounded her and she didn't actually notice she was falling asleep until it happened.

It was warm. The sun was shining down on Julia, who was standing on a hill that looked out over a lake surrounded by a forest. There was a cabin with a gray car parked next to the lake. Julia blinked and suddenly she was standing right next to the cabin. There was yelling coming from inside and Julia ignored the feeling that told her she didn't belong here. Inside the cabin were a boy who looked around and a woman, his mom, arguing about something the boy had done.

''I won't allow you to see them again.''

''Just calm down, mom. Nothing happened.''

''God sees everything and I too have seen the way those girls looked at you, I will _not_ have you throw away your purity like a whore I WILL _NOT_ HAVE IT DO YOU HEAR ME.''

''MOM, JUST CALM DOWN OKAY, I WON'T I PROMISE.'' Both were screaming now.

''I WILL _NOT_ HAVE IT YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME I WILL _NOT_ HAVE IT-'' Suddenly, the woman had a pillow in her hands and she pressed it against his face, pushing until he was standing with his back against the wall. She was still screaming, repeating the words as a mantra as she smothered the boy. ''I WILL _NOT_ HAVE IT I WILL _NOT_ HAVE IT I WILL _NOT_ HAVE IT-'' The boy's body grew limp and he fell to the ground. The woman choked on a sob and she knelt down next to her son, crying. ''No, please god no I didn't mean for this to happen please Luke forgive me forgive me _forgive me_...'' She continued to cry and Julia blinked, and then she was standing on the hill again. Just like the first time, she was transported next to the cabin the next time she blinked. There was yelling coming from inside.

* * *

Cordelia was seated at her desk and working through some paperwork. Supremes didn't get days off, she told herself. Not even in the weekends. She was still pondering about Julia's ability to get into someone's personal hell. At first, she thought that maybe Julia had subconsciously practiced Descensum, but now that they'd sort of established that the dreams were influenced by the place, that seemed highly unlikely. When descending into hell, the first place you came was your own personal hell and Julia had never told her about going there. Of course that could be something the girl was hiding, but it seemed quite unlikely to Cordelia. No, it wasn't Descensum. Maybe Julia just had some sort of connection with the spirit world that no one else had.

All this thinking about personal hells and Descensum had led Cordelia's mind to someone who had also attempted Descensum, but never succeeded. Thinking about Misty Day made her sad, so very profoundly sad. It was worse than when she found out Madison had been killed, it was even worse than when Myrtle had been burned at the stake for a crime she didn't commit. It confused Cordelia. She hadn't know the witch very well, but she had nonetheless stirred something inside of her. She had felt it shift in her soul when they worked together, in the greenhouse. Misty had grabbed her hands after she had gotten the incantation to work and they had been so close for a moment. It was then that Cordelia knew Misty was something else.

Something else indeed. Just not the Supreme.

Cordelia suddenly realized that this whole situation had given her new options. Misty had died in the house (only even thinking about that day caused her throat to momentarily tighten), so if Julia learned how to communicate with the spirits of the deceased, maybe she could apologize, in Cordelia's stead. God knew Cordelia had a lot to apologize to the swamp witch for. Cordelia sighed as she put the pen down. Maybe that would give her enough peace of mind to move on.

An urgent sounding knock on the door shook her out of her reverie.

''Come in,'' she called. The girl that entered was none other than Julia, the witch whose abilities she'd been thinking about, and Cordelia smiled. ''How did meditation work out?''

''I actually didn't really get that far,'' Julia answered as she sat down. ''I fell asleep. But I did enter someone's personal hell. I just don't know whose it is.''

''Hang on, I'll get Zoe,'' Cordelia said. ''Maybe she knows and it'll save you from having to tell your story twice.'' Julia smiled as Cordelia got her phone out and sent a quick text to the other witch. Zoe arrived not one minute after and sat down next to Julia.

''What's up?'' she asked.

''This is Julia,'' Cordelia said, ''the girl with the dreams I told you about. Julia, this is Zoe, she teaches here and also sits on my counsel.''

''Nice to meet you,'' Julia said.

''You too.''

''So, Julia, what did you see?'' Cordelia asked.

''I was in this cabin, next to a lake.'' Julia started. ''Inside were a woman and her son, they were fighting over how the boy hung out with some girls and the mom got upset, I didn't really get why, though. So the woman starts shouting about how she 'won't have it' and the next thing I know she has a pillow in her hands and she starts smothering the boy. Then, when he falls on the ground and I think he died, she just cries and says she's sorry and then it starts again.'' Julia sighed. ''It felt really awful to just stand there, so I think about the third time it happened, I decided to try what you suggested, Miss Cordelia.'' Cordelia smiled softly at the younger witch. ''She was shouting at the boy again and I walked up to her and touched her shoulder,'' Julia told them, ''I don't know if she felt it but it did look like she noticed me. Maybe she just ignored me, I don't know.''

''You said you fell asleep?'' Cordelia asked and Julia nodded.

''Yeah, I thought it'd be more peaceful in the backyard than in my room. Apparently it had the desired effect.''

''Well, maybe if meditating does work next time, maybe you'll be able to really get through to her.'' Cordelia said.

''Cordelia, I think I know who she's talking about,'' Zoe spoke up. ''Remember the neighbors we used to have?''

''Vaguely,'' Cordelia answered. ''Weren't they attacked by the witch hunters back then?'' and upon seeing the distraught expression on Julia's face, she added, ''Don't worry, they're gone now. We made sure of that.''

''Yeah. The mom even died, but Misty brought her back.'' Zoe said and Cordelia's throat tightened again at the mention of her friend. ''Anyway, Nan used to be crazy about Luke and when he died, she and I went to pay our respects. But then she found out that Luke died because his mom smothered him and as revenge she used mind-control to make her drink bleach.'' She cringed at the memory. ''I couldn't do anything. She was strong too, you know. I bet she would've been just as good at the Seven Wonders as us.'' Cordelia smiled sadly at the memory of the clairvoyant girl.

''I'm sure of it. But do you think it's her?'' Zoe nodded.

''I'm positive. When we went to visit Luke in the hospital his mom got angry with us, but Nan could communicate with him even though he was in a coma. He told his mom through her to 'calm down and don't have a fit, like at the lake last summer'. It sounds pretty familiar, don't you think?'' Cordelia nodded. ''Besides,'' Zoe added, ''despite being a Christian extremist, she did a lot of bad stuff. She wasn't exactly kind to her fellow men, so to speak. She even murdered her husband.''

''It does make sense if it's her, though,'' Julia spoke up. ''I was sitting on the grass in the backyard, near the fence, so pretty close to their house.''

''At least now we have established the nature of your dreams,'' Cordelia said, ''They clearly depend on where you are when you visit hell and the people that have died near that place.'' Julia nodded.

''So is there anything else you wanted to see me about?'' Zoe asked.

''There is actually,'' Cordelia answered, ''Julia, I think we're done here for now, thank you.'' Julia smiled at her briefly and then left the room.

''Let me guess,'' Zoe said as soon as Julia was out of the room. ''You want to try reaching Misty.''

''Well, yes, actually,'' Cordelia said, surprised. ''How did you know?''

''I've known you longer than today, Cordelia,'' Zoe said with a smile. ''I know you loved that girl, as did we. Except maybe Madison, but I'm sure she would've come round to her if they hadn't been fighting about the whole Supreme thing. And I just want you to know, if you want to bring her back, I'll help you.'' Cordelia smiled wryly.

''I don't know if that's actually possible,'' she said, ''but I do want to try and convey a message to her through Julia.''

''What do you want to tell her?'' Zoe asked.

''Mainly that I'm sorry. I haven't thought about anything else to say to her yet. I'd prefer to tell her something that would somehow make her suffer less, but I have no idea what would be comforting in hell and I don't want it to be meaningless.'' Cordelia explained.

''I get it,'' Zoe said, ''I really do, but wouldn't you at least want to try bringing her back? I know Queenie will want to help, too, and I'm sure there's at least _something_ useful in all the books in this house.'' Cordelia smiled sadly.

''Maybe. I don't know. I'm busy as it is.'' Zoe stood up and smiled at the headmistress.

''Think about it, okay? I'll see what I can find out.''

* * *

That night at dinner, the kitchen was bustling with kooks girls getting their dinner and when everyone was seated at the big tables in the dining room, Miss Cordelia stood up. She held a little talk about the new week and things that were happening, and then she introduced Julia.

''Everyone, this is Julia. She'll be joining us here at Miss Robichaux's and as always, I expect you to treat each other with respect. Do you want to tell everyone something about yourself, Julia?'' Julia nodded and stood up, swallowing nervously now that more than sixty heads were turned her way.

''Um, hey, I'm Julia, I'm sixteen and I like classic rock music. I also play the guitar. Nice to meet you all.'' Julia said with a small smile and then sat down quickly, not being used to be in the center of attention like that.

After dinner, a small girl with short hair came up to her and introduced herself as Sarah, her new roommate.

''I saw you brought your guitar, that's really cool,'' the girl told her with a smile. Julia laughed.

''Thanks. I like to play when I'm bored or stressed, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to bring it along. What do you like to do?''

''I like writing,'' Sarah told her.

''Oh, that's neat,'' Julia said. ''What do you write about?''

''Usually just stories,'' Sarah answered, ''but Miss Cordelia lets me write spells now, too. It's really interesting, but also really hard since it has to be in Latin.''

They talked some more in their room and Julia played her a few of her favorite songs, and then they went to sleep.

The next morning, Julia would officially start her classes. She got her timetable from Zoe and after comparing hers to those of the girls who she'd already met, she found out that she knew at least one person in every class.

Julia's day begun with her potions class.

''Sleep well?'' Miss Cordelia asked her when she entered the greenhouse. Julia grimaced momentarily.

''Not as well as yesterday, I dreamed about the lady next door again.'' Miss Cordelia smiled at her sympathetically.

''Don't worry, we'll find a way to understand those visions.''

''I know,'' Julia said before she went to find a place at one of the wooden tables that held all kinds of potions and powders and fluids. She was sure they'd find a way to find out what the use of having dreams of hell everyday was, or at least a way to stop them.

* * *

The day went by faster than she expected and when their classes ended at 2 pm, Julia felt like her eyes had been opened. There was indeed much more to being a witch than being able to ride a broomstick, which, for the record, the witches here didn't even do. Miss Cordelia had come to see her after her classes and had asked her if she wanted to try to find a friend of hers that resided in hell too. That was how Julia found herself meditating in on the rug in the living room. The headmistress was sitting behind her on the couch, making sure that she wouldn't be disturbed.

''I still have one question before we begin, though,'' Julia said while turning around to face her teacher. ''What's the name of this friend of yours that I'm looking for? It would be easier if I maybe could call him or her, I don't know.''

''Her name was Misty.'' Miss Cordelia said and Julia noticed her clenched fists. They had probably been close. Julia turned back again and she took a deep breath. ''Concentrate,'' Miss Cordelia said, ''strong intent. You can do this.'' Julia closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. She could feel a breeze she knew wasn't caused by the wind and tried to hold onto it. It was struggling at first, but then following the flow of energy went easy and she felt herself being sucked into a dream.

The dusty classroom reeked of chemicals and sweat, and was filled with the scent of death. Julia walked through the door and whitened a little when she saw children dissecting dead frogs. Biology had never been one of her favorite subjects. Then she saw her, Miss Cordelia's friend, sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the room. She wasn't hard to miss, being the only adult between the children. Julia walked closer and saw how Misty brought her frog back to life. The boy in front of Misty had seen it too, though.

''Freak.'' he called her. ''You're a freak. Mr Kringley, she did it again.'' The teacher, a mean looking man, walked up to their table.

''Where's the dissection frog?'' he asked her, while Julia suddenly noticed all the other students were looking at Misty.

''It's right there,'' the boy said, ''she brought it back to life.''

''Shut up Bobby. She snuck a live one in to trick you, but the trick's on her. Pick up the scalpel.'' Julia was suddenly flooded with fear and anxiety as she watched how Misty pleaded.

''Please don't make me.'' Her voice was filled with the fear Julia felt.

''If you won't dissect a dead frog, you will dissect a live one.'' Julia gasped as the teacher grabbed Misty's hand and pushed the scalpel in it.

''No, I don't want to kill a living thing, please, you can't make me,'' she begged, but it was of no use.

''You kill it or I'll have a talk with your parents.'' A tear rolled down Misty's cheek. The teacher then pressed the thin blade down and Misty screamed. Julia couldn't see or feel anything in that moment; the only thing she heard was Misty's screaming and the sound of steel cutting through flesh and the fear and pain and regret that rang through those sounds penetrated the very core of her soul.

Gasping for air, Julia broke out of her meditative state. Immediately after waking, she bent over and coughed. She felt Miss Cordelia's hand on her back and tried to sit back up to face her.

''Are you okay?'' the headmistress asked her and it wasn't until that moment that Julia realized she was crying.

''No,'' she whispered, ''not after _that_.''

* * *

It took a while for Julia to calm down, because Misty's hell was by far the most vibrant one she had been to yet. Miss Cordelia had made them some tea and they were sitting on the couch, mug in hand. Julia's heart was still recovering from the shock and all the emotions that had overtaken her during her dream as she started telling Miss Cordelia what she'd seen.

''It was horrible. It was the worst thing that I've ever seen. She was sitting in a classroom and everyone had to dissect a frog. But instead of dissecting it, Misty brought it back to life. The teacher got mad because he thought she'd smuggled in a live one as a joke, and then-'' She took a big sip of her tea, even though it burned her. ''And then forced her to kill it.''

''Could you talk to her, interact with her at all?'' Miss Cordelia asked. Julia shook her head.

''Everything went so fast. I didn't even see it loop. The only thing I remember thinking is that I needed to get out of there as fast as possible. That was the worst part, it all felt so real, as if it was me instead of her. I've never experienced someone else's emotions as powerful as that.''

''Misty was a witch, after all,'' Miss Cordelia said. ''It could very well be that her energy is different, more powerful than the other souls you've encountered. And Misty was the purest human being I've ever known. Maybe it's just that purity that makes her emotions so heartfelt.'' Julia nodded.

''You're right, she was pure. She doesn't belong there. We have to help her.'' She looked at the headmistress. ''Is there anything we can do?'' Miss Cordelia sighed.

''Zoe is already looking into that. She's sure we can find away to resurrect her, but I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do, or if it'll even work.''

''Do we have any choice?'' Julia said, incredulous that her headmistress wouldn't even be willing to _try_ to get her friend out. ''I get that it's probably dangerous, but she doesn't _belong_ there. It's just plain wrong. Please, we _have_ to try.'' Miss Cordelia looked up at Julia's still tear streaked face and smiled a wry and pained smile.

''Okay. I suppose there's no harm in trying. But as soon as it gets too dangerous for you, we quit. I will not let anything happen to you, is that clear?'' Julia smiled at the possibility of saving a woman, lost in a place she didn't belong to in the least.

''Crystal.''

* * *

**A/N: I'm going on a vacation to Italy for three weeks on Wednesday and I'll try to write, but I'm probably not going to get a lot done, so you'll have to wait a bit longer for the next chapter. Luckily there are a lot more great ahs fics out there :)  
If you have the time, please leave some feedback! It would mean the world to me and also helps a lot.**


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